warning: super LOOONG CE story...

I have to say, that I thought that this year’s Creative
Escape was the best one yet. But, I have to admit, I think that I have thought
that every year! It was awesome, in every sense of the word…the basic framework of CE didn’t
change:

fabulous
resort environment: CE has been held at the Wild Horse Pass in Chandler,
AZ the last 2 years, and will be there again next year. It’s out in what
feels like the middle of nowhere, and it’s just unique, tranquil, over the
top service, fantastic food, great rooms, beautiful pool- and a brand
newly renovated convention center that has been expanded and even more
completely fits our needs of having 700 participants taking 8 classes
simultaneously, and feeding us breakfast, lunch and dinner in one huge
room… as well as the perfect space for an on-site scrapbook stores that
rivals any other retail scrapbook store anywhere!

Bus
tour that pre-event takes people to visit the Bazzill plant, and
Scrapbooks ETC in Mesa, AZ.

Technique
Boutique offers a diversity of things that need to be picked up or done
before classes…this year ‘cookbookin’ had a mini-class… and some wonderful
fruit bars for everyone! Everyone also got a clear acrylic bowl that would
be used to hold various little things needed- and they could paint them w/
Krylon paint pens… it was amazing to see the creativity! Cool zebra
patterns and everything!

Every
year, we have what is called a Trunk Show- which provides a place to see
past work from each teacher, as well as get a chance to meet them and chat
a little… if you check out Tim’s blog, he has a photo from each teacher’s
trunk show table. They were beautiful representations of each artist… I
love this part, cause I love to visit w/ everyone!

Thursday
night, the only official CE activity is the ‘welcome’ meeting- it’s quick
and just goes through the ins and outs… this year, each teacher was
presented with a really cute apron from CE as a thank you gift… and we
encouraged people to get some rest… none of them do!

Everyone
is fed breakfast, lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday. The breakfast was
so awesome this year… buffet style…they had it all! Lunch is just a box
lunch, but super yummy! Great wraps and sandwiches… cookies/brownies etc.
etc. and this year we had a sit down dinner each night- this was new-
usually we have a buffet on Friday night… the food there is spectacular!
It was delish. Even if the dessert was fruity!

Friday
Night Extravaganza has been something different each year- and after a
long day, we decided to make it as meaningful and quick as possible!We invited Heidi Lynn Schreiber to
create a project for everyone to make, and Bazzill donated all the
supplies. Bazzill staff was brought on board to teach the 1 ½ hour
class…it was a great album project that included some embroidering using
Bazzill’s ‘in-stitches’ line.I had the opportunity to introduce this year’s theme: Unwritten. I
spoke for a few minutes about the REWARDS and the RISKS of writing things
down in scrapbooks… I did share some of my OLDEST scrapbook pages… and got
a good laugh!

Saturday
night is the END… the culmination of the whole event.. and it’s always my
most favorite part. We have a special tradition that we ‘eat dessert
first’… so as soon as everyone is seated, they are presented with a
beautiful, delicious dessert!... throughout the weekend, participants are
given and can obtain raffle tickets by purchasing them or making purchases
in the on-site store.We had
100 raffel baskets to give away during dinner… and then it was time to
announce the winners of our Charity raffles.We were giving away 2 spots on the Scrapmap Ultimate
Cruise 2010 that I will be teaching on with Debbie Schue and Stacy
Julian…. (price is $1289 or so, and they have a payment plan that is only $100 a month... COME CRUISE W/ US!!!) We then did something that was new this year…

Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society fund raiser…2 years ago, one of Bazzill’s graphic designers was diagnosed with
a huge tumor on her heart- and has since battled and won out on the
disease… so many of us have been touched in one way or another by Cancer,
and it’s been our desire to give back, in some small way. In June we
invited the incredibly talented past and present teachers to take a cheap-o
IKEA lamp and create something fabulous that we would raffle to raise
money. We decided to make things interesting by having a live auction of
the lamp I created and the lamp Tim Holtz created… I was so amazed and
delighted when my lamp sold for $8200!!! Imagine that… it was making me
more and more nervous to hold the lamp as the price tag got bigger and
bigger… The woman that won my lamp is someone that I know.. (a ‘she’)… and
I was thrilled to know it would be inspiring her in her creative space! Next
up was Tim’s lamp… and these ladies were not messing around. I think it
was like 3 bids and it was up to 16,000$ (I think it’s like childbirth,
faster the second time around! LOL)… Tim’s lamp sold for an amazing
$29,000.I am not totally
sure the final number, but between the cruise and all the lamps the total
amount (100%) of the proceeds totaled over $46,000.It was the most overwhelming,
exciting and electric experience!! The generosity and kindness… the desire
to somehow HELP was felt by all! The lamps were so amazing to see in real
life… they literally gave me chills, and SUCH a warmth! It was AWESOME!!!

Keynote………every
year we have been blessed with an absolutely wonderful speaker, and this
year was not different in the brilliance of our invited guest: Melanie.
She is niece to Mr & Mrs. Bazzill and sister to Shelby, the afore
mentioned Cancer survior. I obviously can’t repeat what she shared, but it
certainly filled me with a desire to be a better person. A better human.
To give. To encourage and share and lift and believe in others… everyone
in that room felt it- that desire to love more fully … ‘live with arms
wide open’. It’s had a major impact on my heart.

While the basic components of the event were the same… there
was a little bit of a difference that I felt this year that seemed to touch me…
this year connections were being made on such a greater level… the FRIENDSHIPS
that have been created at CE either this year, or in years past… are AMAZING. I
could see it in the women, as their guards were let down, and they allowed
themselves to be touched, connected and SERIOUSLY HAVE FUN. real fun. crazy
fun! zebra toes fun. chocolate 24/7 fun. crowns and flowers fun… and the kind
of sharing that happens when you are surrounded with people that are all
passionate about the same thing: preserving life’s memories. And everyone was
having a BLAST! That is the best part…

Since the event, I have been feeling SO overwhelmed with
gratitude.

I am thankful for the team that puts SO MUCH WORK into CE:
Doug, Carol, Lisa, Frani, Mona, Marti…Douglas and Shelby.. and all those that
made kits, buttons, boards, props, tying ribbons, shipping, moving, arranging,
computer systems, CC machines, and attention to every single, tiny detail that
must be carefully orchestrated.

I am thankful for this year’s teachers.. their projects were
SO great… the trunk show was FAB…theykept up the crazy pace with huge smiles and warmth for every single
participant!

I am so thankful for the VOLUNTEERS… ok, they have to be the
most amazing group of self-less women.. they just flat out love people and want
them to be happy!! Most these ladies have been there all 4 years, and this
year… people were REQUESTING what volunteer’s group they wanted to be in!!
their dedication is just tireless, and they also have non-stop smiles and
energy. And it’s HARD to be nice that much!! (wink).

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!

I am so thankful for the hotel staff.. they are PHENOMINAL!!

I am so thankful for those there participating! They were SOO
happy to be there. Everyone was beaming, and smiling and ADDING to the over all
good-vibe! I loved being in your presence!

i am SOOOOOO thankful for all thea ROCKIN' sponsors... course we couldn't even come close to pulling this off w/ out the massive support we get! we LOVE you... and apprecite you... thank you SO much!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be involved… It’s
hard work, but it’s SO worth it.

I am thankful that my sweet friend Chanel could come from Australia to be here..

and i am thankful for my sister Katie for being my helper... she is the best!!

and most of all...

i want to thank Eric... for being an awesome husband and father, but mostly being my very best friend. he wanted to be there this weekend.. to be with me, and help out, and EXPERIENCE it... but, it's harder to leave 5 kiddos... and the day i left was of course the first day of school!! he was cheering from Utah, and taking care of everything here. i couldn't do it without him. i love him and appreciate him SO much. thank you eric!!

We DID announce that we’ll be putting it on AGAIN in 2010!! …
see you next year!

just a few shots... i didn't take enough shots to capture it! i love seeing YOUR photos- tag me in your photos on facebook! i'll let you know when the official CE photos are up on the site to view!!